D Gray Man: Nightmares and Reality
by Kaizer23
Summary: What if someone else found Allen when he was defeated by Tyki? A new path has opened, how will this affect the D.Gray-Man Universe? AU.
1. Nightmares

This is my first attempt at a romance fan fiction and this was one of the few ideas that got stuck in my head which eventually forced me to write it down...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own -Man or the characters within this Fan Fiction. The only character I do own is Xuilan Xu (I'm not going to bother stating the names of minor OCs in the disclaimer).

_Edit: Changed the Title from Crossroads to Nightmares and Reality and did some revisions._

* * *

The body of a young male exorcist was lying down on the ground, his eyes wide open unblinking. The stump that was his left arm was slowly letting out blood to the ground.

There was a heavy fog surrounding the male exorcists general area. Completely hiding his body within the bamboo thicket.

The fog around him began to gather within his left arm, slowly being sucked into his body...

* * *

An oddly large crescent moon was reflected by the lake before him.(1)

Allen was vaguely aware that there was a figure crying at the ruins that the lake reflected back to him. The reflection within the lake was completely different from the landscape he found himself at.

Allen attempted to approach the crying figure within the reflection to provide some sort of assurance or even try to ease the pains of the female's heart. As soon as he tried to approach the figure through the lake however, a hand suddenly grasped his right arm. Looking down, he was quickly pulled into the water before he could take a proper glimpse at the figure pulling him down.

Allen awoke with a start, he was breathing heavily. Before he could think more about the dream, a voice beside him shook him out of his stupor.

"Are you alright?"

Turning his head towards the voice, he found himself looking at a young woman wearing a Chinese Dress which had an elegant design of a white lotus, and had a coal like colored hair tied to a bun. She had amber colored eyes that, the present look on her face was one of worry. She had a fair flawless skin and was about 5 feet tall.

Taking a moment to recompose himself and let his breathing return to normal, he replied, "I'm fine... Thanks for asking."

The young woman gave a sigh of relief, "You really scared me there. I'd feel terrible if you suddenly died on me."

"What exactly happened to me?" Allen inquired.

"I was hoping you would tell me what happened."

"I – I can't really remember..." Allen admitted. In the dream, he found himself thinking about the crying maiden and why that person was vaguely familiar.

"You - you lost your memories?" She gasped as she put the clues together.

"I – I don't know... I know my name is Allen Walker, other than that, I can't remember anything else..." Allen honestly replied.

"Oh dear... I'm so sorry." The young woman shook her head in disbelief at the misfortune of the teenager before her. Something traumatic must have happened to the boy that forced his mind to erase anything involving the incident.

"Don't worry ma'm, I'm sure it would come back to me eventually." Allen flashed a reassuring smile towards the young lady. He then looked over the state of his body, and found himself to have a stump at his left arm.

The young woman noticed this action, "We found you at the forest missing your left arm and right hand broken and bleeding... We had to bandage it up to prevent more blood loss. We were hoping to ask you how you lost your arm, but seeing that you don't remember anything, it's moot point."

Allen nodded and accepted his predicament rather calmly. He figured that he should have been more alarmed but something inside him told him that he never actually had a left arm, or rather, not a normal one at the very least.

"Where am I exactly and how long have I been out?"

"You're currently at the Xu family hospital, oh and I forgot to introduce myself... my name's Xuilan Xu. I'm the daughter of the Fong Xu the owner of various big time businesses around China." Despite the fact that she basically stated that she was one of the most richest people in China, somehow her face seemed a bit glum. "As to your second question, you've been out for about two days."

"Thank you for taking care of me... but I can't really repay your kindness. I don't have any money with me."

"Oh don't worry about it." Xuilan said with a smile. "I couldn't just let someone die, knowing I had the means of saving it."

Allen was touched by her words and could only say 'Thank you' for her kindness.

* * *

It was another 5 days later that Xuilan visited him at the hospital. By then, he had miraculously recovered despite his extremely bad shape a week before. He still had the dream about the turquoise colored hair girl, he couldn't quite realize who the girl was but he always felt a twinge of guilt ring throughout his heart whenever she heard her sob.

Xuilan had taken an interest on Allen Walker. He looked peculiar with his white hair, his odd shaped scar at his left eye and the missing left arm. Despite looking like a traumatic teenager, he exuded a gentle reassuring feel that never failed to captivate her curiosity regarding Allen Walker's past. Allen's habits were extremely formal and respectful, the epitome of a gentleman. If Allen truly did lose all his memory, then he must have been raised as a gentleman.

So she took Allen towards her home to give him a temporary living space until he can work for his own or until he remembered his past. She was sorely tempted to take the latter option.

At first Allen insisted that he couldn't impose anymore after what Xuilan had already provided, but after much convincing, Xuilan decided to make Allen her body guard so he would accept living at her mansion.

The mansion that Xuilan lived at (her father usually traveled from city to city to inspect how business was running), was extremely spacious and had a touch of Western design while its garden, which was located at the large backyard of the mansion, had a touch of Japanese. The mansion was located in the middle of a forest, not far from the bamboo thicket where Allen was found. It was quite isolated from the city near it, but it was protected by a barrier that made it invisible and untouchable to akumas.

One thing that Xuilan noticed about Allen Walker (aside from his physical appearance) was his large appetite. The word _large_ however, seemed to do Allen's appetite no justice. Allen just seemed to eat like his stomach was a black hole. She secretly wondered if he had found out the secret of staying slim and fit despite eating enough food for a family of 10.

Xuilan's father had unfortunately noticed that Xuilan now has a body guard. After informing her father about Allen's circumstances, he agreed to have him as a paid body guard only if he learns Chinese kenpo as a means of physically keeping anyone with less than clean intentions away from his daughter. Whether it was because of her father's intimidating expression or Allen's nightmares, Allen had begun training with a fierce passion.

It was also due to his nightmares, that Allen had finally began to remember something from his past. The name _Lenalee_ was as engraved into Allen's mind as the nightmare to which she appears at. Xuilan suspected that this _Lenalee _is someone extremely important to Allen as he remembered it much earlier than anything else.

It had been two weeks since Allen's release from the hospital, he was currently training in kenpo at the dojo that Allen was directed to by Xuilan's father. Xuilan on the other hand, was trying to figure out whether she should break it to Allen that when she found him, he was wearing the Black Order's exorcist clothes which signified that he was an exorcist. The problem however, was that Allen doesn't seem to have an anti-Akuma weapon like those that she had seen before. She speculated his anti-Akuma weapon was destroyed along with his left hand. She knew enough that you can't be considered an exorcist if you don't have an anti-Akuma weapon, so she eventually decided to keep it a secret until Allen recovered more of his memories.

Taking a short break from her present work for the company, she looked outside her window towards the garden of her family's mansion. Allen occasionally mentions that he could see disfigured beings floating above certain people with his left eye. She noticed that his left eye had changed when he would have these visions. She didn't know what to do, she had heard rumors that if an akuma isn't destroyed by an Innocence, the soul that is trapped within would be consumed by the dark matter eradicating them from existence. She was powerless to do anything and if Allen found out the truth behind those tortured souls, he would undoubtedly put his efforts on finding away to putting the soul to rest, even if it cost him his life. It was in his very nature to protect and save those he could, so she made up a lie that he was only seeing the soul of grieving people, and even ordered him to not come into contact or notice the souls. He was perplexed upon the command, but seeing as she is the boss he accepted it, albeit reluctantly.

"I'm home!" The voice of Allen rang through the mansion, and by the sound of it he was extremely exhausted.

The maids in the mansion had started a rumor that Xuilan was in love with Allen due to her abnormal drive and interest on finding about Allen's past. This of course had gotten the poor boy on several misunderstandings with possible suitors. Eventually Xuilan was forced to make an announcement to the staff and her father (who obviously heard about the rumor) that she's in no way romantically involved with Allen. She even went as far as telling Allen to refer to her as her big sister (she didn't really know how old he is due to his amnesia), so people would mistake her drive for being an overprotective big sister. Despite this, the staff of the mansion refused to believe this as to the way they treated each other with such 'casualness.' One maid had even mentioned that they acted like old married couples; Allen of course, was totally oblivious to the rumors and had only focused on his training and his job.

"Welcome back Allen!" Xuilan greeted after she got out of her room. Allen's training started from 8AM to 2PM and took place everyday unless Xuilan needed to go somewhere during those times. "How was training?"

"I'm getting better, but I still can't beat master." Allen then plopped onto the living room sofa. He was obviously too exhausted to think about how a gentleman should act in such a situation. Allen was wearing a blue tank top t-shirt with a hakama.(2) This was the clothing he usually wore to training. Seeing it now, his clothing was an utter mess.

Xuilan giggled at Allen's state. He was finally getting used to casually acting around the house. Allen was still a gentleman, but it eventually toned down to something bearable in Xuilan's standards (that and she would keep berating him if he was too formal when they were alone). Since she herself would be what one would call a princess, she had seen her share of men acting like a gentleman when in reality they were just trying to woo her. Allen on the other hand, had his actions carved into him so she wasn't repelled by Allen's actions.

"Don't feel so down Allen, Master Wong was already praising you for your prodigious pace on learning kenpo, and for beating nearly all of his students without even having two hands."

"I suppose... So do you plan on going somewhere today?" Allen asked. It continually amazed Xuilan on how fast Allen could recover from the most rigorous work outs.

"Nope. I'm helping father on managing the debts of various investors." She then noticed that Allen shivered and cold sweat appeared at the sound of debts. She mentally placed it in her memo of lists of things that could awaken Allen's memories.

"I'll help..." Taking a moment to sniff himself, "...after I take a bath."

"Don't worry about it! It's the family business so it's my responsibility as the prospective successor!"

"No, really I insist. I don't have much to do anyway. Besides, you're my nee-san so as the otouto, it's my job to help you."

Reluctantly, Xuilan nodded, "Meet me in my room once your done."

Several of the maids nearby gasped at the possible implications.

'_Damn!'_ Xuilan mentally berated herself for that unchecked reply. She really needed to carefully word things involving her and Allen. "Well?" Addressing the maids, "Aren't you all suppose to be cleaning?"

The cleaning staff returned to their work and immediately left Xuilan's immediate area, for fear of her rather explosive temper. The cleaning staff could still clearly remember the last time Xuilan's famous temper exploded, the poor man to be the target of such anger was turned into a whimpering idiot at the mere sight of Xuilan.

Returning to her room she began to calculate the debts, until Allen came in and Xuilan taught him what to do. Surprisingly, Allen could quickly calculate the math in his head and they got finished a lot faster.

"So... Allen how was your trip going to and from the dojo?" Xuilan asked innocently, while placing the last of the papers into a folder.

Allen always wondered why Xuilan would always ask how the trip was going from the mansion to the dojo and back. "It was fine. Though I do feel that someone is always following me or staring at me..."

"Just ignore them Allen." Xuilan immediately said while within her thoughts, _those fan girls are definitely not worthy of Allen... Wait where did that thought come from?_

For some reason she was becoming protective of Allen. Ever since Allen was brought out of the hospital she had took great effort of taking care of him, so she immediately chalked it up to her being protectiveness as being akin to one an older sister would feel over a younger brother. _'Speaking of people being worthy...'_

"Have you been having dreams of Lenalee recently?" Xuilan asked. Oddly enough, Allen's dreams of Lenalee stopped two days ago. She didn't know what it meant, but hopefully her initial gut feeling regarding the subject was wrong.

"No, not really." Allen then scrunched his eyebrows together as he tried to remember his dream the night before. "But I'm beginning to feel _something _again."

The _something _that Allen referred to was the feeling that he had been missing in the last two nightmare-less days. Xuilan took this as a good sign.

After having dinner, Allen hit the hay as soon as he reached his room.

* * *

_In a Ship sailing at the China Sea._

A young turquoise colored short-haired girl (3) was currently asleep. She was once again in the nightmare that had began to haunt her the night she left Allen alone to fend off the Fallen and the Noah.

She was within the ruins again, with the body of an exorcist at her lap.

Taking a moment to look at the person, she realized it was Allen Walker.

She let out a strangled sob as her hands covered her face to stifle the downpour of her tears.

"I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry..." Lenalee quietly said in between sobs, chanting it like a mantra.

She didn't know how long she had been saying it, but she suddenly became aware of a presence at her left side.

Slowly looking towards the person, she found herself looking at a rather _sketchy _looking boy.(4) Upon further scrutinizing, the boy looked a lot like Allen with the same scar where his left eye was.

The boy then began to speak in a very familiar voice, "Are you alright? Is there anything I can do to help?"

The voice was undoubtedly Allen's!

Quickly looking down at her lap, the body of Allen was no longer there. As she returned her gaze to the young boy, she found herself looking at Allen – alive, very much alive with the exception of his missing left arm. He wasn't wearing his exorcist clothing, but a blue t-shirt and a light brown hakama.

Lenalee slowly moved her left hand to reach for Allen, and Allen slowly began to reach for her with his own right hand.

As she was about to reach him, a blinding white light engulfed her field of vision. The sudden change startled her and she called out to him, desperately hoping to reach him, touch him, and assure her grief stricken heart that Allen was alive.

"Allen!"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

(1.) This is the dream that Allen witnesses right before he woke up at the Asian Branch. The only difference is the fact that he didn't clearly see the shadow that grabbed his hand.

(2.) I won't be specifying the clothes that Allen wears all the time. Here however, he is wearing a blue t-shirt (just like in the anime when he was training with Fou) but wearing a light brown hakama (like Terra from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep).

(3.) Ok, this is one of the few plot changes that I'll be making, this dream occurs after the level 3 Akuma attacks the ship in which the exorcists heading to Edo are. Basically during the two days that Allen hasn't been having a nightmare, Lenalee was out cold and dreamless. As soon as her body recovered enough (without the help of Miranda's Innocence) she began to dream again.

(4.) The _sketchy _reference is to how Allen looked like during his dream before waking up at the Asian Branch. (This could be found at the last page of Chapter 58 or Chapter 59 page 9)

As this is an AU, things that happened from canon might not happen in this fan fiction. This fan fiction would however not completely stray away from the canon plot until after the Noah's Ark arc (though there will be extras and changes to make Allen and Lenalee to realize there feelings for each other much faster). After that, the story would start (slowly, not suddenly) drifting away from canon but would still take ideas from the manga. Due to the changes here, Allen had not met anyone from the Asian Branch...

I don't know how often I'll update this fan fiction or if I'll complete this... it all depends on how this is accepted by the general public (I'm not asking for a lot of reviews... but it would surely help to motivate me to write more or update faster), or if the manga can keep me pulled in despite its monthly updates.

My grammar isn't perfect and I tend to miss stupid mistakes until I read it again or someone points it out to me. So if something is horribly wrong (spelling, grammar or unclear sentences), please notify through reviews. I might revise this later on when I feel that something is missing from the chapter. Just as chapters is subject to revision, so is the title of this story.

Another thing, I haven't actually 'thoroughly' read the manga. So some information may be off...


	2. Decisions

**Disclaimer**: I don't own -Man and its characters. The only thing I do own in this fan fiction is the characters Xuilan Xu, Fong Xu, and groundskeeper Reed.

* * *

"Allen!"

Lenalee woke up at her room within the ship. There was no one in the room, it was dark and quiet. She was at her bed with tears cascading down her face and her left arm reaching upwards.

She quickly realized that she had witnessed another nightmare regarding Allen. This time however, he was _alive._ She didn't care if his innocence was destroyed, only the fact that he was _alive_.

She was elated, but was quickly brought back down to earth as she realized it was a _dream. _Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to dismiss that it was a mere dream. Allen was wearing clothing that Lenalee had never seen him wear and she knew for a fact that you couldn't dream of something you've never seen unless you were foreseeing something or that the dream was not a normal dream.

She hoped _desperately _that her dream was telling her that Allen was alright. So she resolved that when this mission was over, she would search China to find Allen regardless what the Order or her brother commanded!

* * *

Allen was awake and panting for breath. He had finally reached the person crying in his dream. He was startled at her fragile looking state. Which only fueled his need to approach and help her. Once he approached her, she was startled to see him at first, and she immediately looked down at her lap.

Allen didn't notice if there was anything at her lap, but when she looked at it, she was startled to find that there wasn't anything there.

The girl, which he unconsciously identified as _Lenalee, _slowly began to reach out to him, as he reached out to her with his right hand. But before they could make physical contact, a white light engulfed his field of vision and he was thrust awake from the dream.

"Lenalee..."

As he said her name, he felt at peace somehow, and his heart thumped at his chest. His body was longing to touch her, dream or reality. Somehow, either case seemed to be stopped by an unknown force. Would this be the case if he stayed here any longer?

He didn't know why, but he was beginning to become confused with his current situation. He didn't know where Lenalee was, but his mind seemed to be telling him that they were heading to some place called _Edo_.

Allen looked out towards the window. The sun hadn't risen yet, but light was beginning to appear at the horizon.

Getting out of bed, he decided to do some work outs and wait until Xuilan woke up. Hopefully she knows something about this _Edo._

* * *

Xuilan woke up to find that Allen's breakfast was already completely eaten. Taking a quick glimpse at the garden, she found Allen doing some basic warm-up taught to him by Master Wong.

After watching for a few minutes, Allen finally noticed that he had a spectator; for some reason, Allen could always detect people with less than good intentions towards her and himself, but whenever it was someone who would marvel or watch him with awe, he would be oblivious to the stares.

"Ah, good morning Nee-san!" He greeted with a smile.

"Good Morning to you too Allen." She returned the gesture. "How come you're up early?"

"I had the dream."

That statement robbed all the mystery regarding Allen's early awakening, "Did you find out anything?"

Allen stared over at the garden, not actually looking at a specific plant but rather at the whole scenery in front of him. "I believe... that Lenalee is at Edo, or is heading there... Do you know where Edo is?"

Xuilan bit at her lower lip. For some reason, she was hesitant on revealing the information regarding the possible location of someone who knew Allen before he lost his memories.

She was saved from making the decision when one of the grounds keeper of the mansion reported to her.

"Madam. Please remain within the grounds for today... Akumas are attempting to infiltrate the mansion."

"Akuma?" Allen asked clearly confused.

_There goes keeping his past as an exorcist a secret..._ Xuilan nodded to the groundskeeper and motioned Allen to follow her indoors. This was the first time that Allen gotten out of his room earlier than herself, he usually woke up from his nightmares and remained in his room until he was called down to breakfast. So it was no surprise that Allen didn't have a clue about the daily reports from the groundskeeper.

Once they settled at the living room, Xuilan began to explain.

"First up, I will confess that I lied to you regarding something you've seen." Xuilan began ignoring the look of confusion from Allen, "the souls that you see with your left eye, are the souls of akuma. The souls are trapped within an akuma, serving as a form of fuel for them. The soul can't control what the Akuma is doing because it loses all its ability to make choices."

"So those pitiful looking souls above those people are..." Allen trailed off as he began to realize the significance of his sight.

"Yes... those are the souls of akumas." Xuilan raised her hand, signifying to Allen to listen, "The reason I didn't tell you is because in your present state, you can't do anything to help them."

"What do you mean?"

"Only an Innocence, an anti-akuma weapon, can destroy akumas and save the soul that is trapped from there bodies." Xuilan then continued, "No one is currently able to destroy these akumas since Exorcists from the Black Order, is currently focusing on finding new exorcists and protecting there Generals. You must also be aware, Akuma always attempts to kill humans."

Taking a brief pause, Xuilan wondered if she should tell the whole truth regarding what she knew about Allen. She looked at Allen's eyes, the determination within those orbs made her, at least, suggest a way that would protect him if he chose to pursue this _Lenalee_ to Edo. "I understand your concern regarding these Akumas, but we will talk about this another time -"

"But...!"

"No Allen! I don't want to lose you in such an endeavor where you have no hope of succeeding!" Xuilan screamed at Allen, her protectiveness making itself known.

The sudden outburst caught him off guard and he looked down at the floor for unconsciously making Xuilan worry for him.

"Regarding our previous conversation about Edo, that's in Japan, which is roughly East from here, across the sea." Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she continued, "If you wish to go and find Lenalee, I want you to take magic and sealing lessons(1) from the groundskeeper."

"But wouldn't you need protection from these akuma?" Allen asked once he realized the repercussions if he were to leave here and now.

"It's alright Allen." Xuilan said softly, yet reassuring. "You need to find your past... There's another reason why I'm pushing you to find your memories, but I'll explain once you learned the basic of magic and sealings from the groundskeeper... I – I know that even I am against this... I've grown quite attached to you."

Xuilan blushed, clearly embarrassed at what she was going to admit next, "I love you like a brother, and I don't want you to get hurt, even if it was for my sake or anyone else. So please accept my reluctance to completely divulge to you what I know about your past. I promise that I will reveal it to you before you leave for Edo or even earlier than that."

Allen was stunned by the affection and admittance of Xuilan that she really treated him like a family member. Sure the whole referring to her as 'nee-san' already alluded to a sibling-like relationship, but he merely thought it was to avoid confusion from her potential suitors. But her admittance now, made him feel a lot more sure of their sibling-like relationship. "Yes, nee-san..."

"...by the way, how did you know so much about the Black Order?"

"Anything possibly related to my safety or your memories, is archived by the groundskeeper to further assist on day to day defenses." Xuilan said with a small smirk as she turned her back to get breakfast.

* * *

For the next few days, Allen learned the basics of magic and sealing (which was extremely difficult for a one-handed person) and continued to master kenpo.

Allen had been reading a book on magic and sealing from the scroll the groundskeeper had lend him. As he was quietly reading it at the living room, a loud – almost shrill – voice rang out from the mansion's front door.

"XUILAA~AN!"

Allen tensed. It had to be one of_ those _days.

There were several reasons as to why Xuilan hadn't married yet despite the many suitors. Most of the reasons was Xuilan herself. She can be pretty intimidating and any persistent suitors whom she already straight out rejected were brutally _put away. _Simply, this meant that the person would never again approach Xuilan even with a ten foot stick – and that was people who weren't perverted.

Another reason for why she hasn't married yet was because of her overprotective father.

The first time that Allen had met the man, he was literally frozen on the spot. The glare that he sent his way froze every single cell of his body and somehow he saw his life – that he can remember – flash before him, as if at any moment the man would no doubt sent him to the next great adventure. This was of course before Xuilan explained his circumstances. He then immediately became a rather jolly old man shaking his hand and introducing himself as the head of the Xu family corporations and father of Xuilan.

It was due to Fong Xu's (2) infamous glare that over half of potential suitors never made a move on Xuilan. Aside from this, he dotes on his daughter to the point of obsession. Though he was starting to get worried about her love life since his daughter was rapidly reaching the age of 21 (he never did realize that he was, in some form, detrimental to her love life).

In a typical "one of _those _days", Allen would be stared down and terrified like a little girl, until Xuilan finally comes to his rescue. Then everything that happened afterwords would be an exchange between father and daughter, most of which he hadn't attempted to pay attention to.

"Son, have you seen where Xuilan is?" Fong's deep voice pierced Allen's thoughts.

It always did surprise Allen to how Fong's voice could change from the shrill overly dramatic voice, to his deep business voice.

"A – Uh... She's a-at her room Mr. Xu." Allen stammered. He could never shake the fear that came when talking to Xuilan's father. It didn't help that he was currently alone in the living room with the man and everywhere else in the mansion was strangely quiet – like every time he had these encounters.

Fong suddenly took a step towards Allen. The action made Allen tense and stood straight as if being addressed by a general.

He was sweating bullets until Fong began to softly pat his shoulder, his face showing a serene smile.

"No need to be so nervous son. You are what Xuilan considered as her little brother." Fong's face suddenly morphed into his infamous glare, "If you try to push your luck however, you won't be so lucky."

"Ye – Yes Mr. Xu!" Allen saluted. This happened nearly every time Xuilan's father came to visit (which was at least 5 times a week despite his constant trips to businesses around China; sometimes he would visit twice a day), and he still wasn't immune to Xuilan's father's glare. Every time that this happened, he seemed to vaguely remember a rather long purple haired man wearing a beret.

"Father!" Xuilan had finally come out of her room to save Allen from further inter- conversations with her father.

"Xuilan!" Fong's face reflected his once again serene smile, inviting Xuilan to a hug, to which she immediately complied.

After the hug, Xuilan immediately began to berate her father, "Can you please stop scaring Allen! I already told you! I only love him like a brother!"

"Bu – but Xuilan! I can't help think about the possibilities since you spend such an interest at him! You've never had this kind of drive with other suitors!" It always amazed Allen how such an intimidating man could be reduced to something _so _unlike his projected image.

"No buts father!" Xuilan said as she raised a finger, producing an image of a teacher berating a pupil.

Seeing that this was a lost argument, he immediately stopped and changed the subject of the conversation, "Alright, Xuilan... so how goes Allen's memories?"

Stopping at her tirade, she immediately took a softer expression, "He's had a dream – this Lenalee is at Edo."

Fong took a pensive stance. After a few moments, he turned around and faced towards the door. "When he's ready, alert me. I'll do what I can to assist."

"Father..."

Fong turned his head to his daughter and with a reassuring smile, "I'll do anything for you. You consider Allen as your own brother, so it'll be like helping my own son."

"Mr. Xu..." Allen himself was touched at the sentiment.

Smiling, he headed out of the mansion.

Today was definitely better than one of _those _days.

* * *

"Ok, create a restraint seal on that boulder!"

It was just a few minutes before dinner and Allen was finishing up his training with magic and sealing with Reed.

Allen raised his right hand and pointed his index and middle finger towards the large boulder, he then raised his arm, "Restrain!"

Several blue runes appeared around the boulder and closed in. The boulder was then covered by the light and was held tightly in place.

"Maintain your form!" Reed yelled at his apprentice, "Now, detonate the seal with magic!"

Allen then brought down his right arm in a slashing motion, "Ignite!"

The boulder exploded in a ball of blue flame with small green sparks flowing from it. The end result was a completely shattered boulder, but with no apparent burns in the ground.

_'Green sparks...'_ Reed thought to himself. _'If this is what I think it is, it might be impossible for him to use it as effectively as a normal human...'_

"Good..." Reed said outloud. "You've managed to control who or what is affected by your seals..."

Allen dropped to his feet as he finished the training. Physical training was something he can easily handle, but when it came to magic and sealing, he was easily exhausted.

Reed, seeing the exhausted state of Allen, spoke to him, "Don't worry about it kid, you haven't gotten used to having energy coursing through your hand. Once you do, you can do these exercises without breaking a sweat."

All Allen could do was nod to signify he understood.

_'I certainly hope that's the case...'_ Reed thought as he went back to his post.

* * *

Despite his incredible drive to learn about magic and sealing so he can start his journey, he could only cast basic restraining seals and explosive seals. He was still trying to learn how to create a barrier and repellant seal, but he wasn't making much headway. Reed assured him however, that he was doing extremely well despite his handicap and with his drive he would be on his way to being an adept, but for some reason Allen was feeling restless and impatient, like something important was going to happen.

Xuilan herself was feeling a little restless herself. The feeling of safety that the mansion exuded was slowly disappearing and was being replaced by a nearly oppressive aura. Despite what the groundskeeper said regarding the barrier being at top shape, it couldn't suppress the anxiety she was slowly feeling. It didn't help that Allen himself was already feeling agitated.

Later that night, Allen was reading books about sealing while stuffing himself with food at the dining room. Xuilan, had finished eating before Allen and was just looking at the company papers regarding how the recent monsoon rains increased production costs at the company near the Mongolian border.

Just as Allen took his last bite at the dinner provided for him, an explosion shook the mansion.

"What the...!"

Allen immediately dropped his books, "I'll go check what happened!"

Before Xuilan could agree, Allen had already ran off towards the direction of the explosion.

As Allen approached the garden, he found himself staring at the soul of an akuma.

The akuma seemed to be wearing a blue colored armor, the part of the face that wasn't blocked off by it's helmet had the impression of being the bottom part of a skull (3). It had multiple eyes, all searching at different locations from where it stood.

The akuma slowly released the body of one of the groundskeeper that it was holding by the neck. The akuma turned its gaze towards Allen.

"Are you Allen Walker?"

* * *

Author's Notes:

(1)Magic and sealing in this fan fiction is similar to the ability of Cross Marian and Link.

(2)Fong Xu's physically looks like a cross of Fei Wong Reed of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles (without the monocle) and Bak's assistant.

(3)This is the same lvl 3 Akuma that attacked Allen at the Asian Branch in canon.

Allen won't become a magic or seal master. The only reason that Xuilan is making Allen learn magic and sealing, is because she doesn't have any idea that Allen still has his Innocence. There's also another reason as to why Allen won't become a magic or seal master, but that would be explained much later.

Apparently, I don't have a clue on how much time had passed since the Fallen incident towards Allen's arrival to Edo. So I'm making it up... in this fan fiction, a whole month had passed (3-4 weeks) before the group of exorcists heading to Edo lands at Japan (rather long despite it's only China to Japan).

Thank you for those that have reviewed. It really means a lot to me.

This chapter is released this early mainly because I was already finished with it before I even submitted the first chapter. Don't expect this to be my normal update speed... Anyway, More reviews = frequent or faster updates. So please review, be it a simple comment or just pointing out a mistake (if you do so, please do it kindly). Constructive Criticism is welcome but flames are not.


	3. Epiphany

_A few days before..._

The Millennium Earl had been watching the Akuma Egg intently ever since its creation. He was mulling over what he had seen from the Akuma's Eyes in the last month.

He was happily surprised when the Level 3 Akuma he sent against the Exorcists heading to Edo, unveiled a potential wielder of the Heart of Innocence... until a few days later he found out that Allen Walker was still alive.

Despite Tyki's report on successfully disposing of Allen, he was still alive and well. But there was something odd with this Allen Walker.

Normally, when an Exorcist notices an Akuma (especially Allen Walker), they would immediately act. Allen however, wore a confused expression when he activated his cursed eye. So he came to a conclusion... Allen Walker had lost his memories.

He wasn't quite sure what to do with the information he had received regarding the two exorcists. He could possibly leave Allen alone as his Innocence was already destroyed and his memories lost. In fact, it would seem more logical to focus his attack on Edo and the Lee girl... but that still leaves the question on how did Allen Walker survive. Unless Tyki lied or messed up, Allen should have been dead.

Weighing up the pros and cons of the situation, he decided to focus his efforts on Edo.

He would just send a Level 3 Akuma towards Allen Walker through the Ark.

Speaking of which, the Ark was something that the Millennium Earl had wanted to get rid off ever since the betrayal of that _black sheep._ He couldn't however, since the Akuma Egg was still in the process of completion. The Egg had to be completed before it could be transferred to his own Ark. If only he had foreseen the betrayal of that musician.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts. No, what's done is done. He'll just have to make use of the Ark until it has served its purpose – after all the special ability of Noah's Ark when compared to his own ark, is its ability to pierce through heavily barricaded areas. There was a limit of course to what it could pierce, but the fact remains that it had the ability to do so. He hadn't added that feature to his own ark, _yet._ But once the download begins, he would be able to secure most of the secrets of the musician and along with it, destroy the ark.

Skipping over to his black piano, the polar opposite of the piano that the musician had, he started playing a low melodious tune. The music unwittingly brought back memories of his first encounter with the young boy.

_'Allen Walker...'_

There was something special about Allen Walker that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He always asked himself as to why he didn't dispose of him when he was a child. Was it a mistake on his part? Or was it because of fate?

* * *

_Presently at the Xu Mansion..._

"Are you Allen Walker?"

The Akuma was staring intently at him, as if sizing him up.

Allen wasn't intent on telling him who he was, but his left eye activated against his own volition.

"That cursed eye!" The akuma was elated to the sign of confirmation from his target.

"Damn..." Allen immediately fell into his kenpo stance. He knew he wouldn't be able to defeat an akuma, but it couldn't be helped now since he was the target.

The akuma rushed towards Allen with its blades, intent on ending Allen's life. Allen quickly reacted by ducking, and bringing down his right palm towards the targets chest.

The thrust shattered a small amount of the akuma's armor. Despite the minor damage, the akuma was surprised that a thrust could damage him. Immediately reacting, the Akuma acted.

Allen realized it a moment too late, and was grabbed by the Akuma's massive hand by the head and thrown towards the walls of the mansion like a rag-doll.

Xuilan, having seen Allen thrown through walls and landing in the living room, went immediately to his side and aid him despite the inherent danger.

"Nee-san... You should run..." Allen said in between breaths, "I'll hold the akuma off..."

Xuilan however, was having none of it. "You can't hope to beat him Allen! Akumas can only be destroyed by Innocence and you don't have one!"

The akuma rushed out from the garden heading directly towards the direction of Allen. Allen, acting on instinct, immediately placed himself in front of Xuilan as a mean of protecting her. Xuilan closed her eyes just as the akuma was going to impact Allen.

Xuilan truly expected that she would have been blown backwards, but once she opened her eyes, she found herself staring at a metallic silver claw protruding from Allen's left arm.

"What the - ? I thought master Tyki had destroyed your Innocence already!" The akuma said in frustration.

"Innocence...?" Allen muttered, but just as he realized what was protecting him, the claw dissolved into green lights and was sucked into the stump that was his left arm.

The Akuma didn't falter and immediately began attacking Allen once again.

Allen acted accordingly and created a basic seal targeted towards the place where his palm impacted the Akuma.

"Restrain!"

A single rune glowed from where Allen impacted the Akuma. The Akuma froze and its arm was brought to its side, as if invisible ropes were tightening around it.

Allen knew that he couldn't hope to restrain the Akuma for very long, so he quickly took advantage of the few precious seconds given to him. He quickly took hold of Xuilan and carried her bridal style (as close as he could with only one arm).

They managed to reach the grounds before the front area of the mansion. The four remaining groundskeepers were already gathered at the area.

Gently placing Xuilan to her feet, she began taking control of the situation.

"How's the defenses? Has everyone been evacuated? And how did the Akuma enter within the barrier?" Xuilan shouted one after another to the groundskeepers.

A female groundskeeper answered her last question, "The akuma seemed to come out from a blue light that protruded from the ground. It happened the same instant that the barriers fell."

Picking up from where the other groundskeeper left off, another groundskeeper spoke up, "Everyone who wasn't in the immediate area of the explosion and the akuma has already been evacuated... Those who were less - fortunate... were all killed."

Another explosion shook the mansion.

Reed then placed a paper seal on both Xuilan and Allen's back, "Get out of here while you still can! Those seals will prevent the akuma from seeing you for a short amount of time, now run!"

An explosion blasted the front area of the mansion, scattering the debris towards the groundskeepers, Xuilan and Allen.

Everyone, with the exception of Xuilan, created a barrier around them to shield themselves and Xuilan from the debris. The akuma however, pierced through the shield and impaled one of the groundskeeper, it then tossed the slowly shattering dead body towards another groundskeeper.

"RUN!" The remaining two conscious groundskeeper attempted to restrain the akuma, desperately hoping to hold it off to protect there mistress.

Allen wanted to stay and fight the akuma, but if he did, he may have just let the death of the groundskeepers be in vain. So grabbing hold of Xuilan's hand, he ran towards the forest in hope of escaping the akuma.

* * *

After running for five whole minutes, Allen decided to stop. Xuilan was exhausted and was definitely not ready for this kind of situation.

They were in front of a huge lake, where the moon was eerily reflected towards its calm surface. The serenity of the lake was such a huge contrast with the chaos that ensued a few minutes ago that it almost seemed surreal.

After a moment of silence, Xuilan spoke up, "I guess, I should tell you something..."

Allen perked up and listened intently while making sure the akuma wasn't anywhere near them.

"When I found you unconscious at the bamboo thicket, you were wearing Exorcist clothing." Xuilan said quietly.

"I'm... an exorcist?" Allen asked more to himself than Xuilan. His right hand went to his bandaged left arm. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I guess.. it was because I was selfish..." Xuilan muttered, "You didn't seem to have an Innocence when we found you, and I pretty much assumed that when you lost your left arm, you lost your Innocence... but what we saw at that brief moment inside the mansion, falsified my suspicions."

"The claw that came out of my left arm... that was my Innocence?"

"Yes... but I'm guessing that your innocence isn't fully synchronized with you yet..." Xuilan then began to think about the reports that her informants gave her regarding Innocence. "Your Innocence is still at its raw form, that's why you couldn't maintain it or activate it willingly."

"But, I still have the Innocence within me... so I alone can stop that akuma..." Allen said as his face morphed into one filled with determination.

"Allen... but your Innocence hasn't fully activated yet! And you don't know if you'll be able to take that Akuma out! That Akuma is definitely a Level 3 Akuma!" Xuilan was desperately trying to persuade him to stop and think about his situation.

"Nevertheless, nee-san... That soul within that akuma is begging me to release him from his bindings." Allen felt something within him pulse with warm energy, as if agreeing with his sentiments. _'Is this what my Innocence calls out to? To save the souls of these akumas?'_

Only silence could be heard as Allen and Xuilan looked around cautiously. There was no longer any sounds of explosions or screams being heard from there current location. They both hoped it was due to the fact that they were too far to hear anything from the mansion...

Just as they were about to start moving again, Allen's left eye acted up again.

"Run Nee-san - !" Allen wasn't able to say anymore as the Level 3 Akuma burst from the trees and took hold of him, the akuma then immediately tossed him towards the lake.

Allen righted himself mid-air and landed at a shallow area near the center of the lake. Gathering his courage, he prepared himself to take down the akuma before him.

"I've finally caught up to you, Exorcist!" the Akuma began to lick its lip as if savoring the moment. "You've got nowhere to run, so let's end this!" The akuma rushed to him, intent on killing him.

Just as the Akuma was to make contact with him, Allen leaped into the air. He then landed at the back of the akuma, steeling himself and concentrating, he tried to invoke his innocence, "Innocence, Activate!"

Just like last time, a large metallic silver claw came out from the stump of his left arm. As he began to bring it down towards the akuma, the claw dissolved into green light and was sucked back into his left arm.

_'Damn it!'_

The Akuma quickly acted, by grabbing Allen and tossing him down to the lake. Wasting no time, he brought his blades down towards Allen.

The dark matter within the blade of the akumas ton-fa began to destabilize his very being. Allen screamed as his body was breaking apart.

He was slowly losing consciousness. His eyes slowly closed as he finally lost the battle with the pain.

* * *

Within the darkness of his mind, a voice pierced the silence.

_'I love you Allen.'_

_'Huh?' _Allen thought. Then he remembered, _'Mana...'_

A pulse came from within him, as if another something else was living with him. It pulsed again, as if trying to shake him awake.

'_Innocence...' _Allen thought as he remembered the familiar pulse.

Within his mind's eye, several memories began to play out. Saving a child from an akuma, using his own body as a shield and protecting innocent people. Though he couldn't quite remember who they were or what he exactly he was doing, he knew he was doing one thing.

_'Protect...'_

He fought not to eliminate akumas, but to save their souls. He fought for everyone's sake. His right was meant for humans, and his left – his Innocence, was for Akumas. _'I fight for both akumas and humans... To save and protect...'_

He then saw himself at a road. At the very end of the direction he was facing, was a bright inviting light.

Looking back, he saw several familiar faces, some of which he couldn't quite remember but knew for a fact that they were all somehow important to him.

The images of those people slowly vanished, leaving a crying turquoise colored haired maiden. Repeating the words that broke his heart and made him ache with guilt.

'_I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry...'_

_'Lenalee...' _

Despite the fact that if he took this road, he wouldn't need to feel pain again, he purposely turned his back towards it and walked away from it. If he died now, he wouldn't be able to protect those important to him and more importantly, he still needed to meet her, touch her... _be with her._

Allen's eyes flashed open with renewed strength. _'Wait for me Lenalee...'_

* * *

Xuilan watched in horror as Allen, her adoptive little brother was stabbed by the akuma. His screams rang throughout the forest. She herself started screaming for the akuma to stop even though she knew it was in vain. When the screaming stopped, she felt her whole being freeze with fear.

She slowly collapsed unto her knees as the realization of what the silence meant. She didn't even register the fact that the akuma was now looking at her. Only at the crumbling hand of Allen which was the only part that wasn't submerged in water.

The akuma then let loose purple colored energy hands from its mouth which headed directly towards Xuilan.

Xuilan's didn't attempt to dodge, but just as the hands were about to reach her, a white gloved hand emerged in front of her from the lake. The white hand burst out of the water revealing a white cloak with a clown mask. The being then uses itself as a shield to defend Xuilan.

Xuilan was shook from her despair when she realized that someone had just defended her. Looking at the being shielding her, she was stunned to find that it was merely a sentient cloak and mask.

"What the heck is that?" The akuma attempted to attack through close-range, but the being held firm.

The being then let loose a white light, repelling the akuma and destroying its arms, the being rushed towards Allen's outstretched hand, leaving a small part of itself over Xuilan. Allen's hand was then engulfed by a bright white light.

"Allen...?"

The light slowly faded, revealing Allen donning the white being as a cloak. And where Allen's missing left arm was, a slim black claw-like hand took its place. The white cloak had web-like parts of itself lodged deep into the lake, making Allen appear as if he was floating on-top of the water. His left eye had changed and now had an odd gear-like-monocle floating over it.

Xuilan turned her attention towards the Level 3 Akuma. For some strange reason, the Akuma was smiling, as if it was waiting for this very moment.

Allen then placed his gaze towards the Akuma. He then spoke to it, "O, pitiful Akuma, may your soul be saved..."

The akuma said nothing and charged towards Allen. Allen calmly stared at the akuma, once the akuma was within striking range, Allen acted. In a quick flowing motion, Allen brought his claw upon the opponent.

Instead of swiftly finishing the akuma, he severed its feet using his claw while using his cloak's tendrils to pierce the akuma and hold it in place.

"Tell me akuma, why were you after me..." Allen calmly asked.

The akuma chuckled to itself, "I'll tell you if you save me."

Allen nodded to it.

"I was sent here by the Millennium Earl..."

When the word Millennium Earl was mentioned, Allen suddenly felt a surge of anger course through him. He didn't know exactly why yet, but from what he could remember a few moments ago, the Millennium Earl was the cause of Mana's death.

"...from Edo through Noah's Ark to eliminate you."

"Noah's Ark?"

"Yes... The light that is still in the garden of where you live, is a pathway that would immediately lead one to the ark... and through it, to Edo."

Allen nodded to himself and stared at the Akuma one more time, before finally finishing it off by forming a cross shaped light over its body. The soul of the akuma, mouthed a silent thank you to him, happy it's now out of suffering.

Allen looked towards the crescent moon, his destination set and his determination firm, "Wait for me Lenalee, I'll be there... I promise."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Allen has finally obtained his Innocence once again! The events that led him to the _epiphany _was pretty much the same with few minor differences. Despite the fact that I stated this fan fiction won't go off tangent until after the Noah's Ark arc, I've decided to change certain events but would still ultimately end the same (I won't be saying much, in fear of spoiling).

One thing to note that I haven't quite stated in any of the notes thus far: this is mainly written from Allen's point of view, while sometimes shifting to other character's point of view. So you may notice in the following chapters the lack of focus on the events taking place in Edo (so just assume everything happens just as in canon until I focus on the said characters involve).

I've actually finished this chapter a few weeks ago, but I had to rewrite several key scenes... Anyway, to those that don't know, the normal update speed of this fan fiction is 2-6 weeks after last update – though this varies depending on how many reviews I receive.


	4. Persevere

Morning had finally arrived at the Xu mansion. Many of the groundskeepers had died to protect their master; only one groundskeeper was left with the knowledge of projecting the barrier once again. A task that would have took a whole week if it weren't for the help of Allen.

Ever since the events of last night, he had regained some more new memories and proceeded to tell Xuilan about it. This didn't mean that he had recovered all of his memories though.

After a short talk about what Allen plans to do, Xuilan knew that Allen planned to use the light that was still located at her garden to reach Edo.

Before that however, Allen and the remaining groundskeeper had to rebuild the barrier and certain parts of the house. So using magic, the remaining groundskeeper and Allen managed to repair about a third of the mansion. The rest, Xuilan insisted, would be repaired by repairmen later on.

It was already about lunch time when Xuilan and Allen decided to have their last conversation before he headed towards the ark.

"Are you going to be OK without me?" Allen asked his voice filled with concern. "As I understand it, I'm your only bodyguard. And many groundskeeper has...died"

Xuilan shook her head. "I'll be alright. Though it would be odd to not have you around me all the time, I'll be fine. As for the groundskeepers, we'll have to look for someone with comparable skills to those that had passed away. We'll also be sending messages to the family of the groundskeepers that had passed away."

Silence once again permeated the air.

"So your planning to go to Edo using that... device?" Xuilan said as she motioned towards the ark.

"Yes..."

Xuilan remained quiet for a while. She had really gotten attached to Allen. This was after all, the first time she had such a relationship with a person before.

Allen, sensing her distraught, approached her and pulled her into a hug.

Xuilan was taken surprised at first, but immediately returned the hug.

They stood there in comfortable silence. Until...

"WALKER!"

Allen tensed and started sweating bullets. Turning his head slowly towards the source of the voice, his body immediately froze and ceased to function. The only thought in his mind, was that he was in _deep _trouble.

Xuilan, however was taking none of it and placed herself in between her father and Allen.

"Father! STOP!" She screamed at her very irate father.

"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY XUILAN! I TOLD HIM IF HE PUSHED IT, HE WOULD SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!" Fong yelled as he brought out various torture devices from his regal robes. Most of which made Allen wonder how it had fitted within those robes, let alone _why _he brought those things along.

Xuilan remained firm, and calmly explained the situation, "Allen is going to leave soon... he's just trying to comfort me... I'm going to really miss him..."

This brought Fong up short and immediately stopped his bad mood earlier. When he heard news of the attack on the mansion, he was a nervous wreck as he made a rush towards the mansion. Seeing that after a traumatic event, Xuilan's adoptive brother leaving was something he never thought would affect Xuilan severely.

"I'm sorry, Xuilan..." Fong then began to think of ways so they can hopefully maintain some sort of connection before he left. Suddenly getting an idea, he called out to one of the servants and whispered something to the servant's ear.

Fong then addressed Allen, "Before you leave, son, I want you to have something from me. So can you please wait until then?"

Despite the fact that Allen really wanted to head over to Edo already, he felt that he couldn't deny this request. "Of course sir."

Fong took a deep breath after which he corrected Allen, "Not sir son, call me father. I may not know who your true father is, but Xuilan has considered you a brother. So at the very least I will also consider you as my own son – not a son-in-law mind you – but as a sibling of Xuilan."

Allen's eyes moistened and he could only nod and respond with a shaky smile. He never thought he would be able to call someone with the title of _father _when Mana died. So he was genuinely happy with the changes within his life that had happened ever since his traumatic experience which lead to him losing a huge amount of memories.

"Very well, I shall work on your farewell gift to have it finished as soon as possible." Fong then made a turn towards the mansion.

"Father..." Xuilan was also touched by his father's acceptance of Allen.

Xuilan and Allen stood there in comfortable silence. After a while they sat down into one of the debris and watched the scenery around them being rebuilt through the of the groundskeeper. They merely sat at the destroyed garden basking at the morning wind. They didn't know how much time had past, but the next thing that they realized was that they fell asleep at each others shoulder and it was already noon.

Stretching for a bit, she noticed that Allen had also woke up.

"I guess I should have one more bath before I head on over to Edo." Allen said as he too stretched his stiff limbs from the impromptu napping.

Xuilan suddenly remembered something that she had been preparing since she started looking for clues regarding Allen's past.

"Wait there Allen." Xuilan said stopping him at his tracks towards the mansion's bathroom. "I'm going to give you something..."

Allen didn't know what Xuilan was planning but decided to wait for her.

A few seconds later, Xuilan arrived with her hands behind her back.

"Your previous exorcist gear was heavily damaged by whatever fight you went through before I found you. So..." Xuilan then revealed what she had at her hand, "I made you a custom style exorcist clothing!"

Smiling at Xuilan's thoughtfulness, Allen happily accepted the clothing and headed to take a bath so he can put it on.

A few minutes later, Allen came out with his new exorcist clothing. Allen wore a Martial-arts master black t-shirt. The main difference was that the left side had an extremely long sleeve that Allen supposed would cover his whole Innocence, while the right side was a short sleeve. It had an elegant yet simple design, the exorcist badge was pinned as the belt of his pants. The pants in question was a simple white hakama, belted on with a black sash. All in all, it was very form fitting and extremely flexible.

"This... is really great nee-san! Thank you!" Allen said enthusiastically.

"I'm glad you liked it Allen. I made it extra strong with the help of Reed so it would protect you also. The clothing was also one of the last things that Reed enchanted with protective layers. So use it well." Xuilan then began walking towards the dining room – one of the few places that was immediately repaired through magic. "Let's head on over to the dining room, it's lunch after all."

After having a hefty lunch (in Allen's case, rather average) since they forgot to eat breakfast, Allen began to gather his things – which was rather small – to prepare for his journey towards Edo. Xuilan stood by his side the whole time. She was staying with him since he was going to be away for a very long time.

* * *

As soon, as it was afternoon, Allen was in front of the Ark saying his last farewells.

"Well... this is it." Allen said solemnly as he placed his ransack at his back.

"Allen..." Xuilan knew he had to go, but she was still conflicted.

Allen and Xuilan stood there staring at each other's eyes.

In an instant they were hugging each other tightly, for the last time for a long time. The physical reassurance was needed now as they were going to be separated for the first time since they met. Allen knew that they would meet again, but Xuilan was worried for his well-being. An exorcists life is full of peril and she knew she was powerless to help him.

As they stood there hugging, a third figure joined there hugging.

Looking up, it was Fong Xu – Xuilan's father and Allen's, now, adoptive father.

The maids and the lone groundskeeper kept silent at the tear-jerking scene before them. Not making a move or a sound, just watching patiently with a heavy heart.

Once the touching moment ended, Fong handed Allen and Xuilan what looked like an emerald colored ear clasp.

"This accessory, acts as a radio transmitter towards a similar pair that I have given to Xuilan." Fong explained. "This can reach you even if you're all the way at Europe."

Allen and Xuilan quickly placed their respective ear clasps to their ear.

"Testing... can you hear me Allen?" Xuilan whispered, making sure the sound only reached the ear ring.

Allen made a visible nod, "Loud and clear Xuilan."

Allen then faced Fong Xu, "Thank you father."

Fong smiled in return, "Good luck on your journey. Make sure to introduce us to this Lenalee ok?"

Allen blushed and nodded.

Walking towards the light, he looked one last time toward the gathered people wishing him a farewell.

"Goodbye everyone!"

With that, Allen stepped into the Ark.

* * *

Once Allen opened his eyes once again, he found himself in a very quiet and clean villa like location.

'_Is this the ark?' _Allen thought. He then looked back and found himself facing a door with the number 13 marked onto it. _'Is this the door I came from?'_

While Allen was thinking over where he could possibly be, he heard a sound come from his ear clasps.

"Allen!" The voice was of Xuilan's, "Can you hear me?"

Quickly responding, "Yeah I hear you!"

"Thank goodness..." In the other side Allen could loudly hear Xuilan's sigh of relief. "So, are you at Edo yet?"

Allen took a quick glance at his current location, he was sure that he left the mansion at the afternoon, yet this place looked as if it was still morning. Oddly enough he's been having a feeling of nostalgia since he arrived.

"Hey... nee-san, what time is it?" Allen asked.

"Time? It's 6:25PM." Xuilan responded sounding confused with his question, "What's wrong?"

"Well I can honestly say I'm not in Edo unless China is at the opposite side of the globe from Japan..." Allen said.

"What do you mean?" Xuilan asked.

"It's currently morning here..." Allen then started walking. As he kept walking, he suddenly had an idea as to where he was. "...the reason that it's still morning here is because I'm still in the Ark."

"You're still in the ark?"

"I don't know why, but I'm having some feeling of familiarity regarding this place."

"Maybe you've entered it once before you lost your memories." Xuilan mentioned, "You haven't regained it all right?"

"Yeah. Maybe you're right." Allen said sounding unsure. For some reason he felt uneasy with this sense of familiarity. It was way too defined. "There are many doors here, but I'm pretty sure I'll find the one that would lead me to Edo."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

That's the end of Chapter 4. A pretty short chapter, with little going on. The next chapter would probably take a while to write as my high school life is coming to a close and my college life quickly coming out into the open.

The lack of reviews are really taking a toll in my motivation and the speed of my updates. So I'm sorry if the next update would be much later.

Anyway, reviews are always welcome!


	5. Segregate

_Edit: Changed the name of [insert name] to Chaoji. I thought I edited it already, but it seems like I missed it when I revised this chapter. Thank you for the pointing it out Hell Changer!_

Allen, after searching and feeling his way around the ark, found himself in front of a rather ordinary looking door that looked no different than the other doors that he had inspected on his way. The door in question however, had one difference that the other doors didn't have, it had a number.

On it, was the number seven.

Looking back at the door he used to enter the ark, it also had a number.

_'Could it mean that doors with numbers have a set destination?' _Allen thought as he pondered whether he should open and enter the door.

Deciding that nothing would happen if he just kept thinking about it, he opened the door and found himself looking at a similar passage of light that he used to enter the ark.

_'This definitely leads to somewhere...'_ Allen thought as all the other doors with no numbers either opened a normal looking room or a room completely filled with darkness and with no floor to speak of.

Steeling himself, he walked through the passage and stepped off of the ark.

It was moments later when he felt his feet touch the ground.

Opening his eyes, he found himself to a very different looking landscape.

The place seemed to have been leveled and only select buildings were left standing.

"...is this Edo?" Allen asked himself, unsure of what to make with the scenario.

Allen then heard a loud explosion and looked over at the direction. He found himself running towards the explosion as he spotted a being that he remembered clearly from his memories.

_The Millennium Earl... _Allen activated his Crowned Clown body armor and brought his claw out to the open.

* * *

The Millenium Earl was approaching the crystallized form of Lenalee Lee, until he sensed a presence.

Quickly turning Lero into a sword, he immediately struck the approaching presence.

In front of him, was a very alive Allen Walker with his newly formed Innocence.

"Good Evening... Earl." Allen said icily.

"Allen Walker," The Millennium Earl said menacingly, despite his ever present maniacal grin.

The two quickly disengaged and landed a few meters away from each other.

* * *

Lenalee had been trying to break free from the crystal that encased her ever since she noticed that the Millennium Earl had turned his attention on her.

Just before the Millennium Earl could touch the crystal, the Earl sensed something and immediately struck a white blur that seemingly came out of nowhere.

Upon closer observation, the white blur was a human. The person in question had a slim black claw like hand, he was wearing a white cloak with a mask right under his chin serving as a collar for the cloak.

But the detail that struck Lenalee the most was the familiar shock of white hair and the pentacle like scar near the top of the person's left eye.

It was Allen.

* * *

"It seems that your Innocence hadn't been completely destroyed..." The Millennium Earl stated as he calmly placed his sword in front of him, acting like a cane.

"I won't let you touch her." Allen answered dashing towards the Earl.

They clashed, creating a shock wave that shook the leveled city.

Allen and the Earl was locked in battle, with Allen's left arm, shielding him from the Earl's sword.

The Earl brought his free hand and gathered a purple mass of energy. Allen, noticing this, quickly brought his own free hand and gathered enough magic to hopefully shield or even counter the move of the Earl.

They then brought the energy to one another, causing a massive explosion.

* * *

Lavi had been battling the hulk-looking Noah until an explosion and a rush of smoke clouded his vision.

He was quite injured, he couldn't afford to be directly hit by that Noah. So he kept his guard up and letting his lone eye dart around for signs of any movement.

As soon as the smoke cleared enough that he could see around him, he noticed that the Noah he was fighting had disappeared.

Taking account of the situation, he looked over, and found Lenalee on the ground a few feet away from the crystal that had encased her. Quickly rushing over to her side, he was quick to note that she wasn't injured, but it seemed like she had been crying as her face was moist.

Whoever, prevented Lenalee from being taken by the Earl had fought him off here. Whatever happened, it must be something that may have ended in a tragedy for Lenalee to be crying. Looking around, he found that there were no signs of akumas or Noahs. It's as if the explosion signified that they had to leave. But what caused the explosion?

* * *

Lenalee awoke with a start. She looked around frantically, looking for the familiar white shock of hair that she had seen a glimpse earlier.

"Lenalee?" A voiced called out to her.

It was Lavi.

"Are you alright?" He asked worriedly over her frantic expression.

Lenalee took some calming breath and sighed dejectedly. Did she actually see Allen or was that a mere figment of her imagination?

"I'm fine Lavi. Thanks for asking." Lenalee then looked over to where they currently were. They seemed to all be under a bridge that survived the destruction of Edo. "What happened?"

"We're currently under a bridge that wasn't affected by the attack of the Earl." Lavi said as he stood up. "For some reason, after an explosion, all the Noahs disappeared. I was hoping you would tell me what happened before you lost consciousness."

Lenalee thought about it but she couldn't see very well due to the fact that she was encased in a crystal.

"All I can remember was a white haired person fending off the Millennium Earl."

"A white haired person?" Lavi asked. For some reason, the first thing that came to mind was Allen Walker. It couldn't be him right?

"Is everyone alright?" Lenalee asked.

"Yeah. Things got pretty hectic when the attack of the Earl leveled Edo." Lavi explained. "A few minutes after that, an explosion took place at your general location. That was when all the other Noahs fled."

Lenalee took the news silently, which Lavi thought was his cue to leave.

"Well, I'm going to check around if there's anything else around to take note of." Lavi said as he stood up.

Lenalee nodded.

Just as Lavi turned around to leave, Lero, who had been hiding near Lenalee, did what the Earl had instructed him to do.

A reverse pentagon appeared below Lenalee that slowly began to suck her in.

Lavi turned quickly turned around in shock and he quickly attempted to grab Lenalee's hand.

He wasn't fast enough as he stumbled into the portal that Lero created.

Kanda, having noticed the disturbance made an attempt to grab hold of Lavi, Chaoji also attempted to help Kanda by grabbing at Kanda's shirt while Crowley did the same. But the efforts were in vain as they all fell into the portal.

* * *

When Allen regained consciousness once again, he found himself awake inside the Ark. Maybe it wasn't such a smart idea to counter the Earl's attack with magic.

Allen sat up, and sighed. _'Back to square one.'_

"Al—n, -n," Allen could hear the voice of Xuilan from his ear clasps.

"Nee-san?"

"Allen!" Xuilan's relieved voice rang out through the ear clasps. "I was so worried... I've been trying to contact you for 20 minutes now since the last explosion."

"Yeah..." Allen said rubbing the back of his head, "I was in a battle with the Earl."

"Are you alright? Where are you now?" Xuilan asked.

"Seems like I'm back at the ark." Allen said as he looked around. Oddly enough, when he tried to enter the door that he used to go back to Edo, only a black room greeted him. Not only that, but the number that marked the same door had disappeared. "It seems like whatever happened in the explosion, sent me back into the ark."

"Be careful Allen. The signal is becoming more and more difficult to maintain..." Xuilan trailed off as the ear clasps stopped making sounds.

"Nee-san? Nee-san!" Allen called out to no avail. _'Something is happening here... I don't like this.'_

Allen quickly took count of his injuries and found that they were all light wounds. Most of which, had already closed. His clothing proved to be resilient and the enchantment proved true.

An earthquake shook the Ark, Allen quickly looked over at the direction of the earthquake and found that the houses in that area were collapsing.

_'The ark is falling apart?' _Allen thought in distress. He really needed to find out what's happening before it's too late!

Allen rushed towards the tower at the center of the ark. Hopefully, there's something in there that would give him a clue as to what was going on.

After running towards the tower, he found a locked door that he assumed would lead him inside the tower. The moment his right hand made contact with the door knob, Allen began to hear a faint melody within his head. The melody sounded for a few seconds and an audible click was heard from the door.

Opening it, he found himself on a barren plain that was a deep contrast from the villa that he came from. Aside from this, there were stars and rainbows despite the night sky. Said stars and rainbows however, looked pretty unrealistic to begin with.

Stepping into the room, he closed the door behind him. As soon as the door slammed shut, Allen heard another click from the door which signified that it had locked.

Paying the odd door no mind, he looked over to the scenery around him.

_'Is this like an alternate plain of reality within the ark? Or did I end up somewhere around the world?'_ Allen thought.

He was brought out of his thoughts when the ark shook violently once again.

_'That sound...'_ Allen thought as he began running towards, what he assumed to be, the direction of another door that would lead him into the tower, _'I'm definitely still at the ark...'_

Quickly dashing towards the building that stood out from the scenery around him, he didn't notice that a checkered colored door appearing, and a muscular looking noah coming out of it.

_'Weird...'_ Allen thought as he seemingly entered another plain of reality within the ark. _'It's like every door leading towards the tower leads to a different set of reality...'_

For some reason, ever since he entered the door, he had a feeling of being watched. He was pretty sure the presence wasn't there a few moments ago.

_'They do say discretion is the better part of valor...'_ Allen thought. He didn't want to go through any unnecessary complications until he can get out of the ark or until the ark stops falling apart. So taking out a sealing paper, he drew the talisman that Reed placed on him and Xuilan.

After drawing the talisman, he placed it on his right arm and hoped that it would be strong enough to hopefully divert the attention of any potential enemies.

The talisman that Allen drew was set for ten minutes of invisibility towards evil beings. So taking advantage of the time available to him, he ran as fast as he quietly could – which wasn't all that difficult due to the shoes that he was wearing.

Allen suppressed a sigh as he ran as quietly as he could through the halls. He had been so close to finally reuniting with Lenalee. Now, he was stuck in a whole new problem – the slowly breaking apart ark.

The unnerving silence made Allen think more about his current situation. For some reason, he knew the path much more clearly than he thought he would. He would purposely go through certain hallways and ignore some other. Had he really gone in here before? Wasn't this enemy territory?

He hadn't recovered all of his memories, only small glimpse of what he had done before and whom he fought side by side with. In those few memories that he had, he clearly could not remember going into the ark. What could that possibly mean? Had he really gone into the ark before? - The familiarity he had with the path he was going was a lot more clearer than some of the memories he had already recovered.

After running for five minutes, he found himself in a large circular library. In the center, stood a large column that seemed to open to another set of reality.

Deciding that thinking such about an issue on this potentially dangerous place was practically suicidal, Allen cleared his thoughts and went onwards. He could ponder about these questions after he got out of this mess.

As soon as he entered the column, his talisman failed and disintegrated into ashes.

_'Just in time too...'_ Allen thought as he made his way up towards the stairs. After taking a few more steps, another large quake shook where he was at, signifying that the destruction of the ark was still taking place.

_'Damn... I don't have time to be walking like this!' _Allen thought as he ran towards the light that the stairs led to.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

This is the first major deviance of the Noah's Ark Arc. Just when Allen had finally seen Lenalee, he's once again separated from her... The main reason that this has occurred is: Allen arrived a few moments earlier than in the anime and manga. As for ending up in the arc after the explosion, that will be explained much later on.

Just a note, Allen does not know that Lenalee and the gang are in the ark, and vice versa.

College is coming closer for me, so my updates will be severely slowed for nearly all my stories. It'll probably stabilize again once I get used to my schedule. Oh, and for those who reviewed in the last chapter - Thank you!


	6. Key

Once Lenalee regained her bearings, she found herself in a white villa like location. Around her were Lavi, Kanda, Chaoji, and Crowley. Aside from them Lero, the companion of the Earl, was with them.

Apparently, Lavi and Kanda had decided to start threatening Lero on how to get out.

"Where are we?" Lenalee asked out loud.

"You are all currently in Noah's Ark!" Lero said arrogantly. "And there's no way that any of you are going to leave this place..."

The ground beneath them began to shake and the sound of crashing buildings a few meters away broke onto oblivion.

"...alive!"

Lavi grabbed the umbrella like golem and glared at it menacingly, "Ok here's the deal, if _you _want to live, you're going to get us out of here... otherwise, your going to witness a slow and very painful death."

Kanda flashed his Mugen to deliver the point across.

Lero gulped at the killing intent the two exorcists were practically oozing with.

"I – I wouldn't tell you even if I did know!" Lero said defiantly, though his voice quivered showing his true feelings. "The Earl said that this place will collapse in 3 hours."

Lavi sighed as he let go of the golem, he took a look at his surroundings and surveyed the area. The ark was definitely falling apart, and they only had 3 hours to find the exit. They were in a huge pinch no matter how he looked at it.

"Let's find a way out of here." Lavi finally said, "Sitting here and waiting for the destruction of the ark won't do us any good. Let's look around at all the buildings for a door out of here."

Lenalee nodded as she attempted to stand up. Her legs were still weak from the exertion when she pushed her Innocence at the fight against the level 3 Akuma. Despite this, she had to persevere, she can't die here when everyone is waiting for their return.

Lavi, having noticed Lenalee's struggle to get up, went to her side and aided her to her feet. "There's no need to exert yourself Lenalee."

"Where currently in a pinch here," Lenalee said as she tried to stand on her own, "I need to pull my own weight, I don't want to feel like a burden to everyone here."

Lavi sighed. "Well if that's how you feel about it, then go ahead, but if you ever need help, don't hesitate to call us."

Lenalee nodded while Lavi started to walk around and open random doors.

The doors in question lead to various empty rooms. If the situation wasn't so dire, they would have taken the time to actually enjoy the tranquility that the ark could have provided. Some doors however – those with a particular number – lead to a dark abyss.

When they found one such door, Lero opened his mouth, "it's useless! The ark has already been disconnected to the outside world!"

After opening a few more doors, the ark shook once again. The floor below them suddenly began to break apart. Lenalee, due to her currently limited mobility was immediately knocked to the ground by the quake. Kanda, having the highest mobility out of all of them, quickly ran from his safe location towards Lenalee and brought her out of the ground that was falling apart.

"Thanks, Kanda..." Lenalee said as Kanda placed her back on her feet.

Kanda merely _tched _and looked over to everyone else. Everyone had gotten out uninjured, but the ground was rapidly breaking apart. They needed to get out of this place fast if they wanted to make it out alive.

"It's like there's no way out of here..." Lavi mused as they looked over at the destruction from a crossroad.

"There is a way out of here you know."

Lavi jumped before glancing to his left and recognized the man as the person that Allen _owned_ in Poker. He was incidentally holding an odd looking key.

"Ah! It's thick lens!" Crowley and Lavi said upon recognizing the man.

"...that isn't my name you know..." The man sweatdropped at the weird way the two had remembered him.

Kanda however wasn't as compliant as his companions. His hand was already ready to draw his Innocence. "That guy is producing a lot of blood lust."

A checkered door then appeared behind the man with the key. The door opened, revealing a female Noah that was wearing a gothic themed dress.

It was Road Camelot.

The exorcists quickly tensed and brought there Innocence out into the open.

The Noah however, didn't pay attention to them and looked over the exorcists.

"He's not with you?" She asked after a moment of looking over them.

"What do you mean?" Lavi asked, a bit taken aback by the sudden question.

She kept talking as if she hadn't heard Lavi, "The Earl said that he was definitely in the Ark... maybe he went ahead?" Turning to the man with glasses, "Hey, Tyki did you see him here?"

The said man removed his glasses and soon his skin started to change color to that of a Noah.

"That Noah..!" Lenalee and Lavi said as they recognized the man as the one that Allen encountered.

"No... All I've seen is his companions." Tyki said. "I've got to give that kid a real beating... cause I had to put up with what the Earl and those midgets said..."

"Who are you talking about?" Lavi asked.

"Hmm... Looks like they haven't actually met him yet." Road said thoughtfully.

"Well no matter," Tyki tossed the key that he was holding to Lavi.

Lavi catches the key with his left hand. "What's this key for?"

"It's the key that can open 3 other doors and Road's door." Tyki explained. "By opening Road's door with that key, you can get out of this place."

"What is the meaning of this Tyki?" Lero, who had been silent throughout the encounter, spoke up. "The Millennium Earl would never approve of this!"

Just as Lero said this, a building collapsed onto where Tyki was standing.

"T-The building collapsed onto him!"

"Is he dead?" Lavi asked to no one in particular.

"Hunting for exorcists are pretty fun." The voice was that of Tyki. It seemed to be coming out of the rubble. "I'll place the door on the top of the tallest building. If you get to the door before it crumbles then you win."

"I heard that the Noahs are immortal." Lenalee said. "How is this playing fair?"

She suddenly heard the sound of laughter. "I don't know where you heard that girl. We are still humans too you know. We only look immortal, because you guys are too weak!"

As he said this, the ground that they're standing in began to collapse.

"Damn! Run!" Kanda said as he immediately went to Lenalee's side and picked her up, knowing full well that she couldn't hope to escape in her current condition.

Crowley on the other hand went to assist Chaoji.

Once they ran away from the immediate area of destruction, they began to look at their options.

"No matter how you look at it, we're trapped!" Lavi said as he panted at the exertion he went through just to run away from the destruction.

The choices that was presented to them basically gave the question 'do you want to live or not?' It seemed like there was only one answer, but could they actually achieve it?

"Well I'm familiar with Road's ability to move through space." Lenalee said.

That statement alone had basically cemented what they were going to do.

"So there's no other choice huh?" Lavi sighed as he clutched the key tightly.

Looking at each other the exorcists now had one question left to answer... who was going to open the doors?

Crowley nervously approached the door that he was directed to open with the key. He sighed to himself, he sucked at games, now he had to add another game that he sucked at: Rock, Paper, Scissor.

That was how they decided who would open the doors with the key. He had apparently chose rock while everyone chose paper.

If the situation wasn't so dire, he'd probably ask for a rematch. Then again, he had agreed that the game could be used as a decision maker.

Once Crowley opened the door, it opened a scenery that they had never seen before.

"Stop." Kanda said.

Everyone stopped at their tracks, nearly toppling over each other.

"What is it Yuu?" Lavi asked as he straightened himself. He nearly fell face first to the ground before them, until Chaoji grabbed hold of his collar.

"Someone has already gone here before." Kanda said as he crouched to the ground.

Surely enough, there was imprints of footsteps on the ground.

"Could it be the person that they were looking for?" Lenalee asked.

Judging by the footprints itself, there was only a single person's foot step. So it could mean that the person whom the two Noah was searching for, had already gotten ahead.

"Whoever it could be, they must be finding a way out of this place like us." Lavi said.

It was the only conclusion that Lavi could draw. If they needed the key to open such doors, how did this unknown person open a door?

It was highly unlikely that the Noahs were the one that traveled through this path as they could just use the checkered door to practically travel from one point to another.

There were two possibilities: either it was actually a Noah (which he had scratched out already) or this person could be another way out of here - or at the very least, a person that wasn't with the Noahs.

Looks like the choices wasn't so restricted after all.

"If we could catch up to this person, we might find an alternate way of getting out of this place." Lavi said.

Everyone nodded as they started to go inside the building.

The building was nothing like the villa that they were in moments ago. The interior was a lot like what one would see at the outside of a desert plains. There was one thing odd though. There was a bright rainbow on the horizon despite the night sky, and stars that looked a lot like what a child would have drawn was present at the night sky. It looked pretty surreal if one was to consider the absurdity of it all.

After walking onwards for a few minutes, Kanda stopped them once again.

"He's here."

Confused by the rather open ended statement, everyone looked onwards and noticed a hulky looking man approaching them.

Lavi could recognize the man as he fought the muscular Noah during the fight at Edo.

"You guys go on ahead." Kanda said as he drew his Innocence.

Everyone looked shocked at him for a moment.

Sure he was strong, probably stronger than any one of them here despite not being a General. But it had been reported that the Noahs, had taken down a General all on their own. Forget the fact that the Noahs aren't immortal, how could an Exorcist, who's not even a General, beat one?

"Yuu?" Lavi said uncertainly.

"He's mine."

"But Kanda, you can't..." This time Lenalee interjected. Is he intending to sacrifice himself for their sake?

"Don't misunderstand me. I have no intention on dying here." Kanda said calmly, answering the unasked question. "That Noah is after the general I'm protecting. I'm only doing this to finish my mission."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Okay, it's been a while.

I admit that I've been rather lazy on writing for this particular work and I'm sorry for that. I'm currently in college and my schedule really doesn't give me much time to write on multiple written works. I don't know when I'll start regularly updating this fiction again, but I'll at least try to update once every six months (or even sooner if I can squeeze it in or I get a sudden burst of motivation – like an awesome chapter of DGray-Man [which mind you, has not updated in a while]).

Anyway, this chapter is pretty much just a look into the Exorcists' side. Next chapter would be a split between Allen and the _party's_ (which is how I'm going to refer to Lavi, Kanda, Chaoji, Crowley and Lenalee's group until they meet up with Allen), ventures.

As you might notice this chapter doesn't have much difference from canon, but of course that would change once the party meets up with Allen (and of course, it's still a long time from getting there).

As always, please input a review, be it a simple comment, a correction or constructive criticism.


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